Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building vs Dominguez–Wilshire Building

Comparing the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the Dominguez–Wilshire Building is interesting because they both stand in Los Angeles, CA, and were completed just one year apart, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 207ft (63m) with 12 floors above ground, while the Dominguez–Wilshire Building reaches 0ft (m) with 10 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

Both the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the Dominguez–Wilshire Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Parkinson & Parkinson and Morgan, Walls & Clements followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building is primarily residential, while the Dominguez–Wilshire Building is primarily commercial.

Originally, the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The Dominguez–Wilshire Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building offers 74 residential units.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building also provides 98 parking spaces.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.